Main menu

Audi names its 2012 WEC driver lineup, Loïc Duval joins team

Frenchman Loïc Duval, a winner at Sebring last year in a Peugot, moves to Audi for the World Endurance Championship this season. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Former 12 Hours of Sebring winner Loïc Duval has joined Audi's 2012 driver lineup for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Frenchman, who won at Sebring last year driving a semiworks Peugeot 908 run by the ORECA team, will share a conventional R18 Ultra with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in the French classic. The 29-year-old's program also includes the FIA World Endurance Championship opener at Sebring International Raceway later this month and the Spa 6 Hours in May.

Other newcomers to Audi are Italian Marco Bonanomi, who was test driver and reserve driver last year, and former DTM driver Oliver Jarvis. The Brit, whose Le Mans seat was confirmed last month, will share an R18 Ultra with Bonanomi and former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller.

The rest of Audi's four-car Le Mans lineup, which will also contest the Spa WEC round, has a familiar look.

The winning partnership of André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler remains together, while Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello will again share a car.

Audi has confirmed only McNish and Lotterer for the WEC races after Le Mans. The manufacturer has said that their teammates will be drawn from its Sebring driver lineup (see below).